


Holiday Armor

by iblametheghost



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Drabble, Established Relationship, Fluff, I think?, M/M, Post-Christmas, len is such a dork for barry, seriously tho its just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 08:29:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5578534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iblametheghost/pseuds/iblametheghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Len knows Christmas didn't hold the usual joy for the speedster as normal.  He tries to remedy that the day after the holiday with a little help from the cold gun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holiday Armor

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, this is my first coldflash fic, and it's more of a drabble.

Barry woke to a harsh light from the window.  Knowing that the blue sky was even dimmer due to winter, he peered over the edge of the duvet, eyes sleepily searching for the cause of the light.  Bright silver gleamed through the window, blinding his sleep-addled eyes before he was able to pull the duvet over his head.  After all the food he had eaten yesterday, the tiredness still remained from the excitement of the holiday. 

A clatter of noises managed to creep through a haze of tiredness, bringing him further towards consciousness instead of falling back to the lingering peace of sleep.  Throwing an arm out from the shelter of the blankets, he tested the air, coming to the conclusion that it was much too chilly to actually forgo the blankets.  Hugging the duvet close to his body, Barry pushed himself off the bed, never leaving the blanket’s warmth. 

Following the noises, he found himself in the kitchen, having only slipped on the edge of the duvet once (or twice if he counts the time his tired legs caused him to trip on the blanket).  The sight before him was a surprising one, Len standing in front of the stove making pancakes and eggs.  Out of the two of them, Len was usually the one who enjoyed lounging in bed.  As Len noticed his presence, a soft smile and a steaming mug of coffee was slid across the counter while Barry took a seat, keeping himself wrapped within the warm confines of the duvet. 

“Good morning, Barry.”  Len smirked as he heard Barry grumble, paying more attention to the coffee than to anything else.  “Holiday hangover?”

Barry groaned, his head falling beside the coffee mug.  “How can spending time with family be so draining.”

Len chuckled, sliding a plate of pancakes and eggs toward Barry.  “Eat up, there’s plenty more I can make.  And after yesterday, I’m sure you can use all the energy you can get.” 

Within minutes the plate was cleared, Barry grinning sheepishly at Len from under the duvet.  He watched as Len began making more food, the coffee continuing to waken his brain.  “How are you not also dead right now?”

Silence filled the kitchen as Len paused, tension pulling his shoulders.  “After what Lisa and I used to…enjoy for the holidays, Scarlet, yesterday was a cool breeze.”  Before Barry could respond, Len had turned to lean against the counter, pinning him with a questioning stare.  “What I’m curious about is why the holiday took such a toll on you?”

Groaning, Barry let his head fall to the counter again.  “They’re just so _cheerful_.  Like, I get that it’s Christmas.  Everyone’s supposed to be merry and jolly.  It just…I don’t know.  Something about it just didn’t feel like Christmas.  Which is really weird since I’m usually all for it and especially since my dad is out.  Maybe it’s because there’s no snow yet, or all the Harrison E-2 shit, but Christmas didn’t feel all that Christmassy and I had to go around pretending that I was more cheerful than normal.  By the way that’s super hard.  I had no idea how cheerful I was on a daily basis.

Laughter came from across the counter as Len moved another plate of food in front of Barry.  “Scarlet, it’s why Lisa calls you sunshine instead of jailbait after she got to know you.  You’re a ball of happiness that can’t be contained internally.”

A small grin graced Barry’s lips at Len’s words, shortly replaced by confusion.  “Am I annoying to be around?  Because I know that I was annoyed at having to be pretend cheerful for that long.  Hell knows what it must be like for others.”

The smile on Len’s face faded to disapproval, coming to sit by Barry’s side.  “Look at me, Scarlet.”  Len waited to continue until bright green eyes found his.  “The only annoying part of your cheer is that not everyone is able to share it like you.  Mick isn’t even annoyed by your overabundance of joy.  Nothing about your cheerful attitude is annoying.  I know I find it to be quite endearing.”  There was a pause as Len stood up, pulling Barry with him and placing the cup of coffee in his hands.  “Come on, follow me, Scarlet.”

Barry walked with Len towards the doors, still clutching the duvet, not even questioning when Len grabbed the parka.  As they walked, Len wrapped an arm around Barry, pulling him close as they walked towards the back door.  The two stood in front of the door, Len curling further around Barry, shrouding the leaner man in his embrace.  “I know that the holiday had been hard for you.  I figured that I could try to do something to at least try and lift your spirits a little bit.  I know that it’s not much, but it’s the best I could do.” 

Len opened the door and pulled Barry through, an expanse of shimmering light blinding him once more.  By the time his eyes had adjusted to the gleam of silver, Len had shut the door and was standing by his side once more, a smile barely on the surface of his face.  Barry’s face in turn was full of awe, wonder shining within his eyes. 

Everywhere Barry looked, there was ice.  Not just little patches of frozen water scattered around the sidewalks, but true _ice_.  Everything in the yard was encased in diamond glass, from the tops of the trees to the nearly-dead grass.  “Len,” Barry breathed out in reverence.  “How did you do this?  _Why_ did you do this?”  He turned to look at Len again, finding narrowed eyes and the smile barely there.  A flush raced up his neck, warming his cheeks in the cold air.  “I mean I love it so much.  It really is spectacular, like amazing.  Thank you _so_ much for doing this, it really makes it a bit easier.”

Len’s smile returned, bearing a hint of cockiness at Barry’s attempt to explain his feelings.  “I figured it was the best worst idea I had that I could pull off.”

“The best worst idea?”  Barry laughed as he questioned Len, a bright smile shining like the ice crystals that surrounded the two. 

“Believe it or not, Scarlet, but I fully considered having Mardon create a snowstorm just for you.  Good thing that Lisa likes to know everything though, she managed to persuade me that letting Mardon know where Joe lived was probably not the _best_ idea.”

Barry leaned further into Len as his laughter returned.  “As much as I would have loved that, you guys made the right call.”  He turned his head to look at the picturesque scene before him again, now noticing how he could see their breath in the cold air.  “This, Len, this is perfect.  I might not have the holiday spirit, but the winter feeling is definitely there.”

“Winter feeling?”  Len questioned as he let Barry tuck his head in his neck. 

“Yeah.  It’s kind of like the Christmas spirit, but lasts longer.  To me it’s like there’s, well, magic I guess, in the air.  It’s cheesy, but it’s true.  What you’ve done, it really sets that feeling in place.  So thank you, Len.”

Barry was pretty sure he heard Len mumble something about what he could have done to deserve him, but he let it go, knowing it was no use in trying to point out the good in the other man.  Especially when Len was willing to get up early and put the cold gun to use in a much better way than crime.  He stayed curled in Len’s arms, for what felt like hours, until the silver coating began to melt and the sun blazed in a cold winter shadow.  Eventually Len pulled him back inside, where there was hot chocolate and mini-marshmallows, as the two reminisced on holidays past and what the future could hold. 

**Author's Note:**

> After Christmas and there being no snow on the ground but seeing holiday cheer everywhere, I just wanted to write a nice fluffy coldflash fic of one of them not really feeling the holiday. So, happy holidays to all, and I hope that the some sort of cheer finds you all!
> 
> Feel free to stop by and chat if you want, my tumblr's: iblametheghost


End file.
